National fuel demand exceeds the government's target
Thursday, August 25 2005 - 03:07 AM WIB
The actual fuel demand in the country is expected to reach about 65.6 million kiloliters this year, or about 10 percent above the government's quota of about 59.6 million kiloliters, Petromindo.Com reported on Thursday.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the sharp increase in the domestic fuel demand was not only caused by the surge in fuel usage from industries and individual consumers but also due to smuggling activities.
He said that a large amount of fuel especially the highly subsidized diesel oil and kerosene had been smuggled into other countries, causing a shortage of supply in the domestic market.
The minister also admitted that the government had decided to cut the kerosene supply during the last two weeks after learning that large amount of the heavily subsidized fuel were smuggled or used for other purposes. (dino)